FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2001-112
SEC Northeast Regional Office Reopens in Manhattan
Washington, D.C., October 15, 2001-We are pleased to
announce that our office in New York City officially reopened
today in a new location in the heart of the city's financial
district. Our original offices were destroyed during the tragic
events of September 11.
The new home of our Northeast Regional Office is in the
historic Woolworth Building (233 Broadway) in lower Manhattan.
Our employees have worked from several locations since they all
were safely evacuated prior to the collapse of 7 World Trade
Center.
SEC Chairman Harvey L. Pitt and Commissioners Isaac C. Hunt
and Laura S. Unger welcomed returning staffers to their new
office. New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso, Nasdaq
CEO Hardwick Simmons, American Stock Exchange Chairman and CEO
Salvatore Sodano, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New
York Mary Jo White, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District
of New York Alan Vinegrad, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert
Khuzami and Eric Corngold also attended the reopening.
We commend the State and City of New York, Governor George
Pataki, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Con Edison and Verizon for their
heroic efforts in reopening the markets and helping us become the
first federal agency displaced by the September 11 terrorist
attacks to relocate its staff permanently in the financial
district. We are also extremely grateful to the U.S. Attorney's
Offices in Brooklyn and Manhattan, which generously provided us
with office space in the interim and gave us a home to oversee
our recovery efforts.
But our highest accolades are reserved for our New York-
based staff, who have continued to fulfill their responsibilities
while diligently reconstructing records to ensure that no case or
investigation will be lost because of the temporary disruption.
"By their efforts since the tragedy, and through their
ongoing commitment to the protection of our capital markets and
individual investors, the employees of our New York office have
shown the world that we will not waver from our duties even in
the face of the most enormous physical and emotional obstacles.
We owe each of them a tremendous debt of gratitude; they are
genuine heroes," Chairman Pitt said.
The Northeast Regional Office and its 334 employees will
occupy five floors of the Woolworth Building. All of the
office's major furniture, equipment, telephones and computer
systems necessary to resume operations are already in place. The
SEC signed a 10-year lease for the property on September 26.
# # #